Hong Kong Arthouse Film FestivalHong Kong - June 20, 2018

NEW VOICES

Celebrating the Unique Voices of the World

DAVID LYNCH

Focus on his early work

FREE

screenings atHong Kong Arts Centre

Celebrating the Unique Voices of the World

At its heart, art is about celebrating the unique voice and message that we each possess. Sometimes loud, often quiet, occasionally bold and brash, and perhaps even shy, that singular voice should speak to others and by doing so, help them to better see themselves.

This vision of film as a medium that inspires and challenges - and supporting the filmmakers who create these works - is the mission of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival. Founded in 2015 as an online film festival designed to support filmmakers regardless of their budgets, this prestigious festival celebrates the best of contemporary independent filmmaking. Its works bridge a wide variety of genres - short films, medium length films, feature films, drama, experimental, comedy, horror, slow cinema, sci fi, fantasy, animation, documentary, and more.

HONG KONG ARTS CENTRE
Now entering its fourth year, the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival has evolved to have a physical presence in a premier setting - The Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC). As it approaches its fourth decade, the HKAC has become widely recognized as the prime arts and culture incubator in Hong Kong. HKAC strives to engage the community with art, focusing primarily on promoting contemporary art and culture in Hong Kong and abroad through exhibitions, art education and related programs. Add to this the fact that Hong Kong has rapidly become an epicenter in the art world, and it’s apparent that the prestige of the location and the potential of showing work in Asia – with all the distribution opportunities the continent offers – is appealing to a whole new class of filmmakers.

DAVID LYNCH
This year, the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival will give independent filmmakers the chance to showcase their pieces next to a program that focuses on the early work of David Lynch.

That vision goes back to the heart of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival: exploring the world in which we live and the unique voices within it that are screaming to gain attention and have an impact on both hearts and lives.

SUBMISSIONS

The Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival accept all forms and genres. All non-English language films must be subtitled in English. Entry does not guarantee acceptance into the festival. Submissions WILL NOT be returned. We also accept submissions that have premiered elsewhere and that may have distribution agreements already in place. However, TV, theatrical, online video, other festival, or other distribution outlets that run concurrently or in the same month of the festival may not be eligible for screening. Rough cuts and incomplete projects are not accepted. Multiple entries are allowed, however a separate entry form must be submitted for each. The festival has the capability to screen BluRay and DVD.

EXHIBITION & SCREENING
Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling. No film may be withdrawn from the festival program after its selection. If chosen as an official selection, Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival is granted the permission to exhibit the film at the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival and all associated screenings. Location and timing of any screenings of the film shall be the sole decision of the organizers of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Week. Filmmakers will be solely responsible for all costs resulting from the submission of the film to the Festival including but not limited to postage or insurance of the film, and expenses of your staff or any representatives of the film. Producer will indemnify the organisers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

LOSS OR DAMAGE
Although every precaution will be taken to prevent loss or damage to materials while in the possession of the festival, The Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival is not responsible should any materials be damaged while in transit to or from, or while in the possession of the festival.

ENTRY LIABILITY
The filmmaker holds the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, its management, juries, subsidiaries, agents, sponsors, affiliates, and etc. harmless from any and all claims of liability resulting from entry. The filmmaker certifies to have full rights. Producer will indemnify the organisers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

2018 Official Selection & Screening Schedule

Screening takes place on June 20 from 7PM until 11PM at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, Hongkong. Admission is free of charge BUT only accessible by personal invitation. Check our guest list service to get information and your invitation: info@hongkongfilmfestival.com. Check out the 2018 festival trailer:

7PM

Introduction to 'The Alphabet' (United States) by David Lynch

David Lynch explains (video).
Duration: 00:01:12

The Alphabet (United States) by David Lynch

A woman's dark and absurdist nightmare vision comprising a continuous recitation of the alphabet and bizarre living representations of each letter.
Duration: 00:04:00

Cut out (Canada) by Fannie Giguère

The audience dive into an abstract universe where sounds and images gradually come true.
Duration: 00:03:45

Les Homards Immortels (Night Song) (Belgium) by Kate Voet

Over the course of a lengthy night, Alba and Max meet after a brief and crude separation, rediscovering each other while uncovering their motivations and desires against the backdrop of an anonymous, foreign city. They find themselves balancing on the thin line between solitude and establishing a connection. Les Homards Immortels is a film about how our memories are reshaped over time, how they can differ, and how we can desire to revisit a moment in the past to try to change the unchangeable and unsay what’s been said.
Duration: 00:13:13

Divisional Articulations (Hong Kong) by Max Hattler

Repetition and distortion drive this audiovisual collaboration between composer Lux Prima and visual artist Max Hattler, where fuzzy analogue music and geometric digital animation collide in an electronic feedback loop, and spawn arrays of divisional articulations in time and space.
Duration: 00:04:33

'Flatland' is a piece of video art made by two Iranian artists Alireza Keymanesh and Amir Pousti in 2017. It premiered as part of a group exhibition under the collective title Flatland. They intend to perform this piece live in an urban environment.
Duration: 00:14:35

She Eats The Apple (Singapore) by Anthea Ng

There is a girl who lives in the woods. She eats an apple every day.
Duration: 00:01:56

3 peonies (United States) by Stephanie M. Barber

A brief, poetic 16mm film on a simple sculptural action. What becomes apparent is the humor possible in material interactions and the tender and sometimes melodramatic symbolism of cut flowers. What begins as a reverence for natural beauty ends up pointing towards the abstract expressionism and color field work of high modernism which, in many cases eschewed the banality of such ‘natural’ beauty. The collaged soundtrack suggests weightier concerns, gently insistent behind the flatness of the utilitarian sounds of ripping tape.
Duration: 00:03:13

The Kingdom of Men (Hong Kong) by Sham Kwan Yin

An experimental short that integrates the creative process in contemporary theatre art and traditional storytelling in film. Inspired by ‘The Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral’ written by theatre director Pao Kun Kuo.
Duration: 00:20:52

Moonlight Princess (Israel) by Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss

Despite her albinism and only 8% sight, it is the 19-years-old Ruths greatest dream to become an actress. But her way is full of small hurdles of everyday life, which we experience with her in an audiovisual voyage.
Duration: 00:13:00

Absence (China) by Shae Xu

A woman wakes up from a bathtub, hearing a heartbeat that doesn't belong to her. While discovering her body under water, she finds a human nature in the bathtub.
Duration: 00:14:14

Unspoken thoughts (Sweden) by Edvin Eriksson

Unspoken thoughts is a dreamlike film about the up and downsides of a close relationship between four friends.
Duration: 00:10:12

Zackman (Hong Kong) by Jack Tong

Jeanne, finally recognized that she had to survive from the fierce battle and left this mad world. When she recalled what happened before she died in the normal world, her 'own' decision emerged. Nothing is better than she could use 'this' body to travel between two worlds.
Duration: 00:05:18

9PM

Introduction to 'The Grandmother' (United States) by David Lynch

David Lynch explains (video).
Duration: 00:01:12

The Grandmother (United States) by David Lynch

A young boy plant some strange seeds and they grow into a grandmother.
Duration: 00:34:00

The Fool You Need (United States) by Jean-Paul Frenay

‘Simulacra Contemplating The Mirror Neuron System’ is an animated meditation on the mechanics of human empathy, brain circuitry and imitation learning. A series of looped interactions, gestures and transitions investigate the fluid border between the human and the machine. Interwoven with an intimate radio voice and synthetic melody, the animation considers the relationship between people and technology – reflecting on how the evolution of the human mind is often punctuated by relatively sudden technological upheavals in human culture.
Duration: 00:01:25

A P E X (United Kingdom) by Stuart T Birchall

This conceptual film was inspired by a love of the ‘Alien’ franchise and the work of H.R Giger. I wanted to explore the alien concept set in a future abstraction. We witness a genetic hybrid emerging from the void, composed of the alien and human DNA. The creature; a biological zenith represents a pinnacle in the evolution of biology and higher consciousness, the creature represents balance, a queen and creator, the APEX of being.
Duration: 00:04:00

The Velvet Underground Played at My High School (United States) by Robert Pietri, Tony Jannelli

This animated documentary is the story of the Velvet Underground's disastrous first public performance. While on stage for merely 20 minutes, The Velvet Underground performed three songs: 'There She Goes', 'Venus in Furs', and 'Heroin'. The Summit High School audience responded with, as a band member recalled in 1983, a 'murmur of surprise that greeted the appearance' that 'increased to a roar of disbelief as the band started to play' which'swelled to a mighty howl of outrage and bewilderment...' Half the audience walked out.
Duration: 00:08:00

Anatema (United States) by Santiago Echeverry

The word Anathema means "something or someone that one vehemently dislikes", and acts as the guideline for a study on the extremes that a person can go through when modifying their bodies through tattoos and surgeries. At the end the short film is a portrait of Doug's empowerment, a man that in spite of his radical transformations has found a new sense of freedom, liberated from taboos and societal constrictions.
Duration: 00:05:05

A Dog Leashed (United States) by Dane Cree

Self-reflection through meditation. A look at the shadow self.
Duration: 00:03:00

Night Clerk (United States) by Damon Mohl

A song for a night clerk.
Duration: 00:01:35

How can I tell you (France) by Barbara Creutz

The words and woes of exile by Estonian poet-singer Lembe Lokk.How Can I Tell You is a sentimental journey through language and imagery.
Duration: 00:04:25

Humandroid Lovers (Germany) by Anna Jordan Project

The Hybrid Dimension I. galactic stories start with the hopeful excitement of new Exotic Expeditions.
In the enormous power of this challenge, the protagonist overcame her fear and went to an island of purple dragons. This is how she became the Dragon Rider. The girl and the dragon flew together over continents and oceans. On their journey the girl fell in love with a droid but their love remained unfulfilled. In her sadness she fell apart and left her terrestrial life behind.
Duration: 00:03:06

Clique Bait (Hong Kong) by Anna Mikami 三上杏奈

Set in the international school community of Hong Kong, a high school girl spreads a video sexualizing her childhood friend and classmate.
Duration: 00:14:46

Repeat Repeat (Taiwan) by Kuo Ying Hsiu

This film tribute to Taiwanese poetry Hsia Yn, This experimental dance video deconstruct the dancer's dancing movement, dialectical of the urban individual and others, also the relationship between body and field. The repeated movement and background sound to reflection the possibility of the body and self-identity.
Duration: 00:02:49

Scandal (Réunion) by Pablo Mengin-Lecreulx

This animation made of 2500 paintings tells the story of a man who tries to run away from his fate. He is seeking for success, fame, happiness and love... But the city is too strong and he can't win. Sadly, he becomes a powerless witness of his own fall, just like a bee trapped in a spiderweb.
Duration: 00:04:10

A Doll's Hug (Taiwan) by Rob Chihhwen Lo

Domestic violence, school violence, and societal violence continually challenge and threaten the Taiwanese teenage boy, XiangYu. He seeks to escape from the undesirable reality to take shelter in his imaginary barbie doll world. He learns to fight back to seek solutions for ever-lasting redemption. However, the relief from the redemption is impermanent...
Duration: 00:20:00

Arachnoid (United States) by John Maslowski

A giant spider lurks in the forest.
Duration: 00:00:50

The selected films will compete for the following awards:

Best Narrative Short Film
Best Documentary Short Film
Best Animated Short Film
Best Experimental Short Film
Best Underground Short Film
Best Music Video
Best Hong Kong Short Film